RockPro Wireless+Bluetooth Issue - Linux (ayufan 0.7.8 and previous)

[ayufan]

martinayotte: first, sdio0 is currently disabled due to stability with nvme, as for bits I meant binary blobs for realtek wifi/bt.

[gnr_3]

Hi all,

I just got my Rock64 Pro with the Wifi/BT module (so new to Rock64) and it does not seem to be working with:
Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Containers Image (DockerCE & Kubernetes)[microSD / eMMC Boot] [0.7.9]

This is the version:
rock64@rockpro64:~$ uname -a

Linux rockpro64 4.4.132-1075-rockchip-ayufan-ga83beded8524 #1 SMP Thu Jul 26 08:22:22 UTC 2018 aarch64 aarch64 aarch64 GNU/Linux

I have done a rfkill unblock all - but the main issue is on the BT is coming up not the WIFI:

rock64@rockpro64:~$ ifconfig

docker0: flags=4099<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500

        inet 172.17.0.1  netmask 255.255.0.0  broadcast 172.17.255.255

        ether 02:42:02:cb:ce:4a  txqueuelen 0  (Ethernet)

        RX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)

        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0

        TX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)

        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0



eth0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500

        inet 192.168.1.245  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 192.168.1.255

        inet6 fe80::e0fc:1bff:fe80:a4ed  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>

        ether e2:fc:1b:80:a4:ed  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)

        RX packets 2295  bytes 161835 (161.8 KB)

        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0

        TX packets 1166  bytes 96592 (96.5 KB)

        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

        device interrupt 24



lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING>  mtu 65536

        inet 127.0.0.1  netmask 255.0.0.0

        inet6 ::1  prefixlen 128  scopeid 0x10<host>

        loop  txqueuelen 1  (Local Loopback)

        RX packets 84  bytes 6280 (6.2 KB)

        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0

        TX packets 84  bytes 6280 (6.2 KB)

        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0



rock64@rockpro64:~$ rfkill list

0: bt_default: Bluetooth

        Soft blocked: no
        Hard blocked: no

So I have a basic issue I think. Can someone help me to get the WiFi interface working. I have seen some discussion on disabling sdio - but I am not sure what this means.

--GnR

[dukla2000]

As per post 10 above yours, disabling sdio0 (in 0.7.9) gives stability to the nvme, but means nothing you do will get the onboard WiFi/BT to work. (The WiFi/BT card needs sdio0.)

[gnr_3]

As per post 10 above yours, disabling sdio0 (in 0.7.9) gives stability to the nvme, but means nothing you do will get the onboard WiFi/BT to work. (The WiFi/BT card needs sdio0.)

I agree. I think I have a basic problem that the rfkill list is only showing the BT module and not the WIFI (wlan) module. I am thinking this is a product fault as I have tested it on 2 different rock64PRO but the same image (eMMc card). 

can anyone help me here? Or should I report it a product issues?

[gnr_3]

As per post 10 above yours, disabling sdio0 (in 0.7.9) gives stability to the nvme, but means nothing you do will get the onboard WiFi/BT to work. (The WiFi/BT card needs sdio0.)

I agree. I think I have a basic problem that the rfkill list is only showing the BT module and not the WIFI (wlan) module. I am thinking this is a product fault as I have tested it on 2 different rock64PRO but the same image (eMMc card). 

can anyone help me here? Or should I report it a product issues?

So I got the Wi-FI to work. Apparently it only works on the Andriod 7.1 OS. and the BT is unstable (could not pair with a device well). This is not good as I need it on the Bionic container image. But at least I found out how it will work. Hoping support gives me a good resolve for this limitation on the Bionic container image for the Rock64Pro.

[Luke]

As per post 10 above yours, disabling sdio0 (in 0.7.9) gives stability to the nvme, but means nothing you do will get the onboard WiFi/BT to work. (The WiFi/BT card needs sdio0.)

I agree. I think I have a basic problem that the rfkill list is only showing the BT module and not the WIFI (wlan) module. I am thinking this is a product fault as I have tested it on 2 different rock64PRO but the same image (eMMc card). 

can anyone help me here? Or should I report it a product issues?

So I got the Wi-FI to work. Apparently it only works on the Andriod 7.1 OS. and the BT is unstable (could not pair with a device well). This is not good as I need it on the Bionic container image. But at least I found out how it will work. Hoping support gives me a good resolve for this limitation on the Bionic container image for the Rock64Pro.

If you've read a few posts up ...

(...) sdio0 is currently disabled due to stability with nvme, as for bits I meant binary blobs for realtek wifi/bt.

Support has nothing to do with it - you just have to wait for ayufan or someone else to figure out how to make it work so that sdio doesn't cause instability under particular circumstances.

[duckkcud]

Thanks for the reply! I noticed that in the release notes. I found it by searching with the keyword "wifi", which was mentioned 3 times within his releases. I downgraded to 0.7.7 and even the 0.6.X stable, but still have the issue unfortunately.

I haven't had any luck getting it to work yet either and I've resorted to using the USB one.

So after a ton of digging, a close friend and I were able to find a solution. Here is what we found.

The wireless+bt chip is an AMPAK AP6359SA, but it uses the Broadcom 4359 chipset. After more digging, we found the kernel calling for /system/etc/firmware instead of /etc/firmware which is what the Linux distro uses. After realizing that, we researched the current stable Android release that has working wireless+bt firmware.

The folder for the firmware on the stable Android release referenced /system/etc/firmware, which is what the Linux kernel is using. We archived the file on to a USB from the Android release, then brought back up the Linux release. We moved the files over to the folder structure that the Linux kernel was calling. Once we got everything in order, we reissued the rfkill unblock all command then proceeded to reboot. 

Once rebooted, the wireless module was fully recognized and scanning SSID's. To make it where we didn't have to use a wpa_supplicant file every time(for my wife's usability), I installed WICD. It works pretty well from what we have tested thus far. We still need to validate further.

But there is a good thing coming up soon to make this much easier for all, but some may want it quickly so we will write up a report and put the files out for downloading. However in 4.5+, the chipset will be fully supported out of the box. I just wanted to send an update that it is working and that we are going to put something together just in case anyone wants to leverage it prior to the 4.5 release.

I should have something written up today, but the information here can be used to get the wireless module up and going. I hope this helps others!!

Thanks for being an awesome community and making great boards! 

Can you link me to the Android release you copied the files from, the name/location of the files, a link to the Linux release and location where they should go so I can get my board connected?

Don't have access to a compatible USB wireless device at the moment and I'd love to tinker over the weekend.

Any release schedule for 4.5?

[duckkcud]

I downloaded the Android 8.1 image from: http://files.pine64.org/os/ROCKPro64/and...oot.img.xz

I couldn't figure out how to extract the image to a folder to look at the files though.

I'm assuming this is how the drivers were copied?

1) Download Android image.
2) Copy driver files from Android image and put them on desired system.

In the meantime I bought a WiFi range extender that had a ethernet port as a solution for internet access. I tether from a cellphone, so I don't have access to a regular router and I don't have a compatible USB WiFi dongle.

[duckkcud]

From @Bullet64 signature I found a forum which shows steps to accomplish this: https://forum.frank-mankel.org/topic/190...wlan-modul


AUTO-TRANSLATED:

"If we had the problem, the software is not in it. But JeffD from the forum had an idea there ? One steals the driver from the Android version, because it should work (not tested itself).

So downloaded the 50 GB Android file, unpacked and searched. There you will find the file "

I'm assuming this is referring to: http://files.pine64.org/os/sdk/ROCKPro64...7.1.tar.gz
Found on: http://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/ROCKPro....5Bv7.1.5D


HAVE NOT TESTED - Just searching for answers

[Bullet64]

I did not get it to work